Dollar drops on soft US jobs data
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Daily Currency Update
The US dollar dropped across the board on Friday after the monthly US jobs data saw the second lowest Non-Farm Payrolls reading since the pandemic. The initial reading saw 73k jobs created in July, lower than the 106k predicted. What was likely the main driver for the sell-off however, was June's reading being revised dramatically lower from 147k to 14k and May's being revised from down from 144k to 19k. The confirmation that there were over 250k less people employed than previously stated resulted in Donald Trump sacking Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who he accused of manipulating the numbers for political reasons. EUR/USD jumped from around 1.14 to 1.1550 after the report with GBP/USD mirroring the move from 1.3150 to around 1.33.Key Movers
This week’s main event isn’t until Thursday when we get the latest Bank of England interest rate decision with a 0.25% cut priced into the market. With the cut all but guaranteed, it will be the accompanying commentary about the future path of rate cuts and the health of the UK economy which will be the area of focus. With inflation stubbornly high and economic growth appearing to be grinding to a halt the UK is in a tight spot, especially with the prospect that taxes may have to rise in the Autumn.Expected Ranges
- GBP/USD: 1.3200 - 1.3360 ▲
- GBP/EUR: 1.1435 - 1.1560 ▼
- GBP/AUD: 2.0440 - 2.0600 ▼
- EUR/USD: 1.1490 - 1.1620 ▲